Snow Fall
by The last blue Rose
Summary: oneshot what happens when you take something for granted? what happens when you give every thing you have for what you love? naru/hina


Sound…

It had taken six years, but they came back…Orochimaru had finally gained the Sharingan. It had taken him a couple of decades but he finally succeeded in obtaining the copy wheel eye. Sasuke hadn't even put up a fight –he killed his brother over a year ago, which had always been part of his dream… the other part was to restore his clan to what it once was…at least until Orochimaru told him it was impossible due to the cursed seal sterilizing the bearer. Sasuke had been pissed when he found out, soon after that though he gave up, he had never planed out what he would do after restoring his clan… it just never came up and now that it did he found himself blank at what to do other than just _exist_. The snake sennin soon after possessed the Uchiha's body and started a war against the leaf.

He attacked everything that stood in his way from small towns to travellers unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He cut off trade routes and supply lines to Konoha, even going as far as to blocking of Suna's attempts to gain contact with the leaf. For a solid month Orochimaru laid siege on the village hidden within the leaves, unlike in the Chuunin invasion he planned so long ago, Konoha's walls were taller and wider than before and sported an array of seals that made them near impervious to damage.

But the Otokage's new army numbered in the thousands and each soldier had a level one cursed seal on them. Each skirmish ended worse than the last with Sound taking losses up to ten times more than the Leaf. Unfortunately even under those losses Sound still out numbered Leaf eight to one. With losses growing, Tsunade needed something to be done, and before the war took any more lives. Leaf was losing, slowly but surely they were losing the war… and badly. That was why she set up a joint S-ranked mission, involving teams seven, eight, nine, and ten; it was why she sent them to assassinate Orochimaru. That was why she sent them on a mission some of them may not come back from…

But that was _not_ why she sat in her office alone, tears streaming down her face, eyes bloodshot, and her breathing erratic as she stared and the five letters on her desk…for the first time in her life, Tsunade wished she had never made the connection between her luck and the events in her life...as long as she lost every time she gambled her life was good, hell it was great! But whenever she won, however, the worst thing imaginable happened…the day her little brother died, she won a hundred thousand ryo from a scratch off ticket…the day the love of her life died, she won a two-story house from a contest with a five dollar entry fee… the day her sensei died, just walking past the slot machines caused them to start pouring out their contents with buzzers going off from 'wining' the jackpot… the same thing happened when Jiraiya died, it became a very bad omen for her whenever she won.

As she stared at the letters on her desk, she wept. Not even having the will to drink. It had to have been absolutely the worst thing that could have ever happened…

Each letter stated she had won the lottery… cash amount totalling in the billions…and from not one, but _five _different countries…

It was for that reason she wept. Tsunade _knew_ that she was going to lose the most important thing in her life since the death of her lover, and it hurt just thinking about it… unfortunately for her, she didn't know just how completely wrong she was…she wasn't going to lose anything…

It wasn't her that would lose something important…it wasn't her luck that changed that day…

It was _**his**_…

-.-.-.-.-.X.-.-.-.-.-

Four days later

-.-.-.-.-.X.-.-.-.-.-

'_Snow…why does it always snow?'_ he thought

_(Flash back)_

_It was winter and the middle of an ongoing war with sound. It was a very one sided war as well. Like the siege of a great castle the battles were long, drawn out, and frequent. There had been an attack every day. Every. Single. Freaking. Day. It almost became routine… wake up get dressed… go to the wall fight for the day… go home exhausted with little to show for it other than a small amount of rations..._

_Then they just stopped. No attacks, no explosive tags going off, no one dieing… for almost a strait week nothing…after the first two days rumours started spreading… "We've won."… "Sound is regrouping"… "Orochimaru's dead" and countless others._

_It wasn't until Shikamaru, the head tactician under direct command from Tsunade, finally took a break and looked at a calendar, that he realized the truth behind the absence of the attacks… Orochimaru was mocking them… he deliberately stopped attacking so the village hidden in the leaves could enjoy its 'final Christmas'…_

Which was two days ago…

_He sighed… it was amazing what you can overlook when you're literally fighting for your life every day…the little things that go unnoticed…what day it is…gifts…_people_…_

_She had given him a present every year since he had been back, and he would always forget about __**her**__…and every time he did he would feel worse and worse. Especially since she never got him something useless, always getting something he would need… kunai made from special alloys making them stronger and lighter, high quality seal components, unspoiled food… she always knew what he needed…even if he didn't know it himself._

_She was his best friend and he never even knew when her birthday was… until today…_

_((Flash back in a flash back))_

"Oi! Naruto!!" someone had yelled from behind him. Turning around, his eyes met none other than Kiba and the giant fur ball named Akamaru. It had been awhile since he had spoken with anyone other than Hinata and Kakashi, because of the war, ninja were assigned positions and jobs that they were to hold… it was Hinata's luck that she was to work with Naruto.

"Wait up! I need to tell you something!!"

"What is it Kiba?" the blonde man said. He had to report to the Hokage's office for something important which even he didn't know what was, but the ANBU that delivered the message said it was urgent. Not to mention the fact that it was cold, and might start snowing…

"Don't you know what today is?" Kiba said with an I-know-something-you-don't-know smirk.

"Uh…theeee…. twenty-seventh?" Naruto said, confusion apparent in his voice.

Kiba smacked his face before sighing, "No, you idiot, it's _Hinata's birthday._"

Naruto paled, "Y-you serious?!" This was bad, his best friend's birthday and he didn't even know!!

"Of course I'm sure! I was her teammate for seven years man! Geeze..."Kiba said smirking as Akamaru barked in agreement.

Great. Not two days ago she got him something for Christmas, when he had completely forgotten that this particular time of season even existed. Two days later it's her birthday and he didn't even know…

'_Some friend I am' _he thought sadly to himself. He didn't even know what to get her, which she couldn't get for herself. On top of that prices on every thing were starting to skyrocket.

Kiba smirked evilly as he watched the emotions dance across his friend's face, knowing exactly what was going through his mind. "You don't have a gift for her do you?" he grinned as Naruto's eyes widened.

"Of c-c-course I d-d-do" he babbled trying to cover up the truth. Kiba's grin widened.

"Oh? What is it?" he asked as he watched Naruto try to come up with and answer.

"Uh…uh…" Naruto was thinking a mile a minute, trying to come up with an answer that would at least get Kiba to leave him alone. Kiba rolled his eyes and sighed, before he got the best idea **ever.**

"Hey Naruto, since you don't have a present for her, I know exactly what you CAN get her that I know she will just _**love**_…"

_((End of the flashback in one))_

"_A __**kiss**__…" Kiba said._

_He spent the next twenty minutes telling Kiba that it was the worst thing to get her. _'Stupid Kiba' _he thought _'she doesn't like me that way'. _That wasn't the problem though, the problem was that Kiba spent that same twenty minuets convincing Naruto that she __**did**__. But even that wasn't the real problem._

_The real problem was that it actually made sense…_

_All the blushing, stuttering, feinting, all of it. It all pointed to Hinata liking him. What was worse was the fact that the more he thought about it the more that his thoughts drifted to the way she looked…then to the way she walked…and from there, his mind started to get perverted…_

_Thankfully he would have a mission today and that would give him time to think about what he would do…he told himself he would have plenty of time after the mission and after the war was over. That he would have time to decide when he would try to take his relationship with Hinata further. _

_**If, **__please note the little word, IF _he_ did decided to kiss her, he told himself; he wanted to do it when they didn't have to worry about anything other than when their next date was. On his way to the Hokage's office he couldn't help but wonder how Hinata would react if he kissed her though…_

_She would probably faint…_

_Oh well, nobody's perfect_

-.-.-.-.-.X.-.-.-.-.-

_Orochimaru's encampment was right there, a tent out in the open with less then a handful of sound Jonin to keep watch. The rest of the army was a good two miles away. The fact that there were no snakes, experiments, barriers, or genjutsu should have set warning bells off in everyone's head. Unfortunately Naruto's thoughts weren't exactly on the mission. _

_In fact, they were focused on the petit Hyuuga right next to him. Everyone else just wanted to end this mock of a mission for, things were going way too smoothly for assassinating a kage… and it was quiet._

_Too quiet…_

_Each team was hidden in the trees, the leaves an excellent cover for an experienced Shinobi, waiting for the sign to start the operation. He glanced at Hinata out of the corner of his eye. He still didn't have a clue about what to get her…_

_Shaking his head slightly he told himself he didn't have time to think about that now, he would have time later to think such thoughts _'but'_ he thought _'if she doesn't like me kissing her I can just blame it on Kiba'_. He mentally snickered at the thought of an enraged Hinata beating Kiba into a bloody pulp… _

_Kakashi caught his attention and he gave the signal for everyone to prep the new shrapnel kunai he created. Sure it was just an exploding tag that had a storage seal written into it, but it was also timed to release kunai and shuriken upon detonation, launching hundreds of deadly hunks of metal in all directions…_

_Massive damage with a single toss… what more could he ask for?_

-.-.-.-.-.X.-.-.-.-.-

_Inside the tent Orochimaru and Kabuto were working on the plans to finish the war when the snake sennin felt a very feint killing intent that was almost untraceable… to any common ninja, that is. _

_And no one, for the life of them, could say that the Snake sannin was a common ninja. _

'Kukuku' _he laughed in his mind._ 'So they finally decide to show up…this should be entertaining.' _He thought replacing himself with a mud clone, leaving Kabuto to be incinerated by the explosions._

-.-.-.-.-.X.-.-.-.-.-

_It was too easy. The tagged kunai blew the tent and the surrounding area to pieces littering the entire place with bits and pieces. Everyone waited for anything alive to move, but nothing did. After what seemed like an eternity because of all the adrenalin in his system, he signalled Kakashi, Sakura, and Hinata to follow him._

_Landing in the clearing where the tent used to be, Naruto motioned for Sakura to examine what was left, while Kakashi, Hinata, and he kept watch. As soon as Hinata activated her Byakugan, she gasped, drawing the blonde's attention…_

"_N-naruto! Everyone-" before she could say more a heavy killing intent cut her off. It flowed through out the clearing causing Naruto to tense up while the others froze, minus Kakashi who had fallen into a taijutsu stance. A veteran knew better than to succumb to a simple show off of K.I.…_

_Naruto turned his attention in the direction the intent was coming from to see a smiling Orochimaru with an activated Sharingan, the red eyes blazing, the image, a sick twist of a humanity as the snake-charmer had that snake-like grin dancing across his features._

"_Kukuku…hello Naruto-kun, so nice of you to pay a visit…and bring me so __many __new test subjects, nonetheless. You are so considerate" _

_The pale sennin said as snakes slithered out carrying the unconscious forms of every one else on the mission…it seemed that even as Kakashi escaped the K.I. incapacitation, his Sharingan wasn't open to save him from the Genjutsu too… _

_(Flash back end)_

He hated the snow…for some reason every time someone important to him died… it would snow…Haku…the old man…Jiraiya…

_**Her**_…

'_Why does almost everyone I care about die?' _he felt a presence in the back of his mind that seemed to mock him… howling with laughter. Even as he felt it, all he could do was focus on how many times he had failed _her_, and she had simply forgiven him… Every. Single. Time… even when she needed him most and he failed yet again, she still found a way to forgive him…

_(Flashback)_

_Were did it all go wrong? He wondered as he stood panting next to an exhausted Hinata. Through the entire 'fight', if one was sane enough to call it one that is, Orochimaru simply dominated, ignoring genjutsu, blocking kunai, batting away jutsu with chakra enhanced hands, dodging every punch and kick. Not one scratch on him…_

_Kakashi was the first to go down, before he could reveal his eye, a blow to the back of the head and he crumpled limply to the ground, the previous Genjutsu having dulled his senses… something lethal for any shinobi._

_Soon followed Sakura, the snake sennin having caught her punch, using her own force as a leverage to crush her to the ground_

_He then simply twisted her wrist and broke one knee, nearly effortlessly, her howls of pain music to his sadistic ears. Having more victims to work on, he simply sent her flying to a tree, the slam throwing her unconscious…_

_The rest of the battle was just a mock, to say the least…_

_Never letting them have more than five seconds of rest, Hinata had to nearly make her Kaiten constant while Naruto had spent a good portion of his chakra on damn clones…_

_While chuckling, Orochimaru drew his 'Grass Cutter', the blade gleaming in the weak sunlight that pierced through the dark clouds…_

"_Such a disappointment Naruto-kun, you hardly put up a fight…no matter, I need to be going anyway… I have many things to do before I burn the Leaf to the ground" He lifted the blade, it glowing with the amount of chakra that he pumped into it… and went in for the kill…_

_Naruto stood frozen as his whole miserable life passed right before his eyes, then after a fraction of a second the images disappearing as he watched in pure fear the blade come down, the embrace of death awaiting…_

_Yet the pain never came…_

_(Flashback end)_

His heart ached at the thought of what happened, bringing forth new tears and creating new wounds in his mind, as he thought of what could have been, had he only been stronger. What _they_ could have been…he still didn't understand why he felt this way. The mission was a success…the war was over…

Yet he still felt the mission was unsuccessful… because he was a failure…because he failed _her_…he couldn't protect her, he couldn't _save _her…

As he stood at the far back, behind everyone…away from his friends, who he knew would hate him… for failing the mission…away from her family because he knew they would never forgive him, for not protecting her…away from her, because she deserved better than a complete failure…

Because he _knew_ she would forgive him…

Even when he couldn't forgive himself…

His thoughts drifted back through his memories to that moment…the exact moment were everything changed…

_(Flashback)_

_He opened his eyes to see her barely standing in front of him, facing him, with Orochimaru's blade piercing the centre of her chest…his heart clenched when he saw the grimace of pain on her face combined with sheer relief that she had saved him…_

_He watched as time seemed to slow while the woman who saved his life slowly fell to the ground, his eyes unfocused in disbelief as Orochimaru slowly came into view as the kunoichi fell…_

_The snake man's eyes widened with sadistic glee as a smirk grew on his face…that was when he started to hear it…the dark presence in his mind, booming with laughter as it watched the girl die through its container's eyes…in that moment…_

_Naruto's mind snapped…_

_In a fit of pure fury he ripped the demon's power away from it, calling on nine tails of pure chakra, of pure might, relishing in the howl of pain from the demon and the look of unrivalled horror that washed over Orochimaru's face as he watched the blond literally focus all of his killing intent onto him as blood red chakra literally oozed out of him in waves. _

_Scorching everything and anything it came in contact with…with one exception the limp form of the Hyuuga a few feet in front of his form._

_The red chakra… his chakra was swirling around him cracking and burning the ground beneath him, a living fire that was ready to consume, a volcano of fury that was ready to erupt…_

_Pain…that was what filled his senses as the blood red chakra literally started to incinerate his clothing… more pain than he could have even thought possible. He felt like he was on fire…his bones were breaking, stretching, dislocating, and healing, then breaking all over again. _

_His skin was peeling off in clumps as more skin replaced the dead and burnt flesh only to fall off again. His muscles felt like they were being liquefied as they stretched and condensed. His hair thickened as the color of the chakra seeped into it and started spreading across his skin while the bones in his face elongated and became fox like. His eyes stayed the same color but the pupils became slits. In a final burst of chakra that burnt the rest of his clothing away nine blood red tails erupted from behind him. _

_Orochimaru for the second time in his life was afraid…no not afraid… afraid was an understatement._

_He was terrified of the monster in front of him. In under half a minute the blonde container went from looking like a_ human _to the beast that now easily towered over him. But that wasn't the bad part…what was worse was that the monster in front of him, if the fur standing on end was any indication, was pissed …at him…and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it…_

_Naruto knew that he couldn't yet control this amount of power for very long… he didn't care._

_Right now all he cared about was removing the standing corpse of a man in front of him from existence…letting his instincts take control, he felt some chakra condense in front of him before being sent out in an invisible wall that distorted his vision…the second the wave hit him the traitor literally disintegrated into dust as if he was nothing but softly packed dirt being kicked up from hurricane of violent winds._

_Even as he watched the snake sennin die, Naruto felt his body explode into pain again. His body began steaming as the fur started falling out, and as his body shrunk he was still taller then he was before and his hair had become blonde again. He fell to his knees as the tails reverted back into chakra but still swung behind him as the only remnant of the demon's power._

_He heard a moan of pain from in front of him. Forcing himself to look up he saw Hinata, laying on her back in an ever growing pool of blood…the sword having turned to dust with its owner. With his remaining strength he forced his body to move closer to Hinata, so he could as least try to comfort her…_

_Hinata felt cold…despite the constant pain in her chest, she felt cold…she had thought today would be a good day…it was her birthday, and she was planning on telling Naruto how she felt…but now? Now she was just cold, and alone…but she was still happy, she had saved her Naruto-kun…she was happy that she had the strength to protect her beloved…she felt her self being moved and felt some warmth seep back into her body._

_Naruto sat there on the ground as snow began to fall around him, tears starting to form as he held his best friend while she lay dieing in his arms…he wanted to say something…anything to make her pain go away…he watched her eyes slowly open and focus on him…those lavender pools that held so much emotion, so much care…_

_He felt his heart clench and his throat tighten as tears started streaming down his face while he watched her face try to smile yet come out in a bloody grimace. She opened her mouth, forcing her vocal cords to form words… only to cough up blood._

_He leaned down, allowing her to whisper in his ear…_

"_I'm …sorry…" she managed to get out before coughing up more blood. Naruto looked into her eyes, confusion and pain apparent in his…_

_She continued as a snowflake landed on her face and melted, running off looking like a tear. " That…I …won't… be there…to love you…anymore…" _

_His heart broke. It shattered into pieces as he watched possibly the only woman that would ever love him, die in his arms. _

"_It's ok," he said beginning to sob "just knowing that you cared enough to begin with, is enough…" his voice cracking as he tried to smile, but failed miserably._

'More than enough…' _he thought_

_His tears started landing on her face as he wept. _

_His pained soul then realized that he wouldn't have time later… no time for dates…time for talking…time for her…he remembered it was supposed to be a special day for her…he remembered it was supposed to be her birthday…_

_Hinata wasn't in pain any more…she wasn't even cold any more…she had finally told her Naruto-kun how she felt about him…now she just felt tired… _

_She felt something warm on her lips… her beloved was kissing her…_

_To her weary soul it was the best feeling in the world. It wasn't filled with passion or lust… it wasn't even more than his lips brushing against hers… but she felt it…_

_The pain, and loneliness …the love… she felt it all, it made her heart ache at the amount of emotion she could feel from her first kiss…her last kiss…_

"_Happy birthday" he said pulling away slightly to look into her eyes. "I'm sorry…sorry that I couldn't get you something better…" he could feel her heart slowing now "sorry I couldn't protect you…sorry I failed you when you needed me most…"He was starting to sob again as he felt her heart continue to slow…_

"_Don't be…I got…exactly…what I… wanted…" her voice trailed of as her heart slowed to a stop and the light faded from her eyes. The light of her soul now flying to places far away… away from him…_

_And there he was left, sobbing with the body of the woman that once loved him in his arms…_

_And wouldn't be there to continue doing it, wouldn't be there to love him anymore… _

'No…' _thought as he start gathering all the chakra he could muster and started forcing it into her body, tears still streaming down his face while the snow continued to fall._

"_Please …" he broke down, "please come back!" he sobbed. He could feel the chakra that was supposed to heal him start burning his skin and muscles as he forced it into her trying to bring her back. _

"_I need you!" he half yelled trying to get her to hear him as his he continued to force every last drop of chakra he had into her._

_He felt himself grow weak as his body burned and his chakra ran dry, still through sheer will he continued, even as the red tails behind him began to flicker out, he forced more and more chakra out while his organs started failing…at that point in time he had no idea that as he finally ran out of chakra, the ninth tail flickering in and out behind him split in two…_

_(Flashback end)_

Naruto fell to his knees hugging himself as his heart threatened to tear his body apart to stop the pain, his single solitary pale lavender tail of chakra that always showed rapped itself around him as if it was trying to comfort him. '_Why…why must I suffer this unending pain…why wont it stop…why can't I die…'_ he thought as he openly sobbed drawing the attention of the near by people, as the snow continued to fall, the white sheet of the winter a mirror of his soul… _'Why couldn't I save her?'_

-.-.-.-.-.X.-.-.-.-.-

As the last few people left the funeral, Naruto was still in the same position on his knees looking in the direction of her grave, his eyes unfocused, lifeless, and unseeing. He heard someone behind him but he didn't care… he didn't even care when two pale, slender arms rapped around him over his shoulders…

"She wouldn't want to see you like this…" A familiar, calm, gentle, and kind voice came from the woman behind him. He didn't answer… why should he? She didn't know him, she didn't know _her_… she wasn't there when it happened…she couldn't feel his pain… all the years of loneliness came back when Hinata died, they hurt more now than ever… and it was his fault that she wasn't here now…

He felt useless. His whole life he was alone and it didn't bother him, it didn't bother him that the villagers ignored him, nor did it bother him when they sneered at him and called him monster and demon… he told himself he would become strong…would be the best…would be Hokage…then he would protect them, and they would love him…now? Now he didn't care… he didn't want to be Hokage…he didn't want to go on missions or learn new jutsu…he just wanted the pain to end…just wanted her back…wanted to tell her how much he really depended on her… how much he needed her right now…

"Why?" he said after a few minutes of feeling the woman behind him breath softly against his neck…it was oddly soothing and slowly making the pain end…

"Why, does it hurt so much?" His question was met with silence…not that he cared … he just wanted to know why the pain didn't fade…why he couldn't sleep at night without reliving her death over and over in his dreams….

"What was she like?" the woman asked her voice gentle and calming… as much as calming it can be to a troubled mind like his…

"She was…" he began trying to think of where he should start, "kind…always worrying about others before herself, never starting fights…she liked to press flowers…she was fun to be around, always trying to cheer everyone up…she was strong, stronger then me…and she was very beautiful "he laughed hollowly "there was this one mission…her team and I were searching for a bug that could be used to track down an old friend of mine…during that mission I saw the most beautiful being I've ever seen… she was dancing on the water, the moonlight shown down on her as the water danced with her…I don't know how long I stood there but I couldn't take my eyes off her" he tried to smile but turn into a grimace as the pain returned to his heart

"The next morning I told the team…" he tried smiling again and succeeded in managing a small almost imperceptible one and chuckled hollowly again yet it was slightly tinged with warmth, warmth the past could only bring now…

" Hinata… she turned the darkest shade of red I've ever seen, she actually looked cute… but back then I thought I made her mad by spying on her…I covered it up by acting stupid…" he sighed

"Looking back on it now…I can tell she was blushing …every memory I have of her when she's not fighting, she's either blushing or recently feinted…she got better with the feinting part as she got older… but she still had the blush…I loved making her blush" he said with a genuine smile, "I cant believe I never made the connection between her blushing and the thought of her liking me…"

"It sounds like you loved her very much…" the woman's familiar voice was soft, barely a whisper in the soft cold wind that graced his cheeks… cheeks stained with tears…

His heart clenched as the pain returned with a vengeance. That thought ran through his head and the more he thought about it the more he realized it was true… he loved her and the second he made the connection his heart shattered once more as the pain grew unbearable… he loved her, and he had failed to protect her… tears started flowing again as the pain continued to increase as he started to realize how much he had lost…

How much he would never experience…

But the thing that still weighed heavily on his heart was the fact he would never forgive himself for failing to protect the woman he loved...

He felt the pale slender arms tighten slightly as she leaned forward and whispered in his ear words that made his eyes widen, and his throat tighten…words that lessened the pain… at least a little…words that he would never forget…

"It's ok my love, I forgive you… even if you don't forgive yourself…" he wanted to turn and kiss her, he wanted to grab onto her and never let go... but the instant his hand touched the arm rapped around him it turned into loosely packed snow…looking around he found that about four inches has appeared on the ground and that in his hands was the small book that he recognized as both her diary and the book she pressed every flower she could get her hands on…

He flipped through the book looking at all the flowers until coming to the last page she had written in…the day she died…more tears escaped him as he looked at it … pressed between the last pages she touched was a single flower…

A Blue Rose…

A/n: the blue rose has nothing to do with my pen name; it does however have to deal with the actual meaning of the rose. A blue rose represents mystery or obtaining the impossible, it was the reason Hinata decided to tell Naruto her feelings… because it was a naturally occurring rose, one that she found growing in her flower garden. It also has to do with Naruto's lavender colored chakra tail… but the explanation for that comes later… if you want an idea to what he changed into think a werefox instead of a werewolf… when i continue this story(for those that care) it will be a bleach cross over.

If you have any questions at all feel free to leave a review asking I'll answer any review I get

By the way if I get a good amount of reviews off this and people want to hear more of the story ill continue it, but as is** unless** **I get reviews asking for more it ends here…**


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